


One Good Turn Deserves Another

by SlaveToMyKeyboard



Series: After Earth [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Denial, Dream/Fantasy relationships, Fluff, Gill!Kri, Haircuts, M/M, Post-Sburb/Sgrub, Quadrant Confusion, adjustment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-05-25 18:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6206371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlaveToMyKeyboard/pseuds/SlaveToMyKeyboard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Kankri Vantas, and if your pan gives you one more dream about a sea-dweller, you are going to take a vow of insomnia. No, wait, a vow of sleeplessness, yes that's much better, vowing to mimic a medical condition could be highly offensive or triggering to some people.</p><p>Your name is Cronus Ampora, and if you don't dream about a mutant land-dweller tomorrow, then there is something seriously fucking wrong with your think pan.</p><p>(Title will probably change)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

** CHARACTER SELECT: **

**> KANKRI               CRONUS**

** CONFIRM SELECTION: **

** NO              > YES **

You are now Kankri Vantas, and you’ve just woken up in a place you don’t quite recognise, wearing a shirt that you’re not quite sure is yours. Actually you don’t remember waking up either, you just have this vague haze of drowsiness hanging over you, which you assume means that you were – at one point in the not-so-distant past – asleep. You stretch your arms up, letting them come to rest on your head after a pop from each shoulder. Your fingers get caught in knots as they dig into your hair, especially around the bases of your horns and at the back of your neck. It’s not unusual to be a tad dishevelled in the evenings, but you’ve never had a bad hair day quite like this before, even when you used to toss and turn with dayterrors.

You give up trying to unknot your hair with your claws, and venture into the next room in search of a brush. It’s colder in here than the respiteblock, with here being the nutritionblock apparently, unless the thing that looks like a thermal hull is just a very bulky cabinet with a thermometer on the side. A breeze comes in from somewhere, dancing across your bare legs and making you shiver. Your feet feel warm though. You look down. Oh, you’re wearing socks, but not pants apparently, just a pair of rather snug boxers. Normally you wouldn’t ever go near the front door without proper clothes on, but for some reason you’re not really bothered about your naked, pasty walking nubs tonight. You should probably also be worried about the fact that you don’t remember how you became pants-less either, but you blame it on still being half-asleep and continue looking for a hairbrush.

You really have no idea where anything is in this place, even the cutlery left out on the table looks foreign to you. There’s a window above the counters on your right, just next to the thermal hull, and all you can see out of it is the blue and white marbling of the sky, so you’re guessing this block is located a fair few storeys up on a hivestem. You frown because you definitely don’t live in a hivestem, and you most certainly have a bigger nutritionblock than this, a separate dining block too, not just a table shoved in a few feet away from the door. Past the table you can see a couch in front of a TV, and recall a vague memory of seeing the same view at night time. Wait, that means it’s day right now, aren’t you supposed to be asleep?

You turn back to the window, where the sky is now overcast with a layer of dull grey. Then something clicks behind you, and as you turn around the door opens and a tall Troll walks inside. You impulsively smile as you lay eyes on his jagged horns, and pad across the wooden floor to put your arms around his neck. He’s warmer than you expected, and his shirt is tacky with sweat as you lay your cheek against his shoulder. You don’t mind though; it just makes his wonderful scent even stronger.

“Heya Kan.” He says with a chuckle, putting down the bag he was holding and lifting you up a little by your waist.

His arms are so sturdy, not overly muscular but enough to betray a hint of their power. It makes you feel safe.

“Hello Cronus.” You reply, leaning up to kiss just under his jaw.

He carries you back into your respiteblock, nuzzling your hair before he puts you down on the sleeping platform. He joins you a moment later, sprawling out next to you on his now bare back and making grabbing motions with a smirk on his face. You roll your eyes, then roll your body on top of him, your own lips curling to match his playful smile. His eyes linger on yours, glowing white around the bright violet that rings his pupils, the black pools blown wide. Everything else seems to go fuzzy at that point, only the centre of your vision retaining clarity as he cups your face in his hands, pulling you down for a kiss. Or maybe it had been like that from the beginning… You don’t really remember.

The cold fingers leave your cheeks and tuck themselves under the hem of your shirt, lifting the material up until your gills are exposed. You purr as Cronus runs his hands across them, stroking with his fingertips and then pressing with his thumbs, smoothing the flaps down with his palms after they open when you gasp. You pull away from his lips, repositioning your mouth to his neck to nip and suck marks into his skin. He makes little noises with each one and you smile, watching lilac bloom under the grey.

Your eyes feel half-closed already, and as he rolls his hips up against yours, you let them fall shut, a slight moan escaping with your breath. Warmth spreads through your body, and you barely feel the temperature difference between you as you go back to mouthing at his neck, absent-mindedly grinding against him. The world feels out of focus, like your pan isn’t quite connected to the rest of you, but being with Cronus like this is just so right, so natural, that it doesn’t really matter.

You should be more awake doing something like this, not moving as if you’re just fidgeting in your sleep, your motions a sluggish imitation of what’s happening in your pan. You press your forehead against something solid, bringing your arms close to your chest. Then when you open your eyes, you’re curled up in a ball. There’s slime around you instead of a sea-dwellers arms, and in place of his pulse is the intermittent hum of your recuperacoon. You take a deep breath and sigh.

Your name is Kankri Vantas, and everything that just happened was a dream, a completely inaccurate construction of your subconscious. You mean really, where on New Earth did your pan get all of that from? Walking around in your underwear, living in a hivestem, acting as if Cronus was your Matesprit. Utter nonsense, all of it. You do wonder sometimes how your own pan can create a you that’s just so, well, not _you_. Some people – Porrim – would argue that your dreams are telling you how you want to be, but that is totally absurd; yes, you may have been considering the prospect of quadrants since being revived – or at least the conciliatory ones – and yes, you do like Cronus, but that dream… It just went too far.

It takes a moment of concentration to stop your hands from slipping down to your gills, wanting to replicate what your imaginary companion was doing to them. You cross your arms over your chest, and when you squeeze your shoulders, there’s a split second where you wish it was him. Your eyes drift shut and you let yourself slip further down into the cocoon, trying to ignore the fact that your body seems to think the dream didn’t go far enough.

This, this whatever you’re feeling, it needs to _go away_ because you’re meeting Cronus later and he wants to spend the whole night together, and you can’t do that if all you can think about is whether your pan was correct when it mimicked the way his muscles would feel against your soft body, or how he would carry you, or even what quadrant you would be in. You sigh again. This is too much. Things were so much simpler when you were a ghost, stuck in a stasis both bodily and to some capacity mentally, not having to deal with hormones and good days or bad days. Everything was just the same as it had always been, you were the way the Beforus made you, the way the game changed you, and that was that. But now everyone is moving on – not all as drastically as Mituna of course, but making progress regardless – and you feel as if you’re being left behind; it’s been almost a sweep and you’re _still_ adjusting, even to silly little things like not having white eyes. You guess that’s one more thing your dream self got wrong.

You want to go back to sleep, let your pan concoct whatever fantasy it desires, just anything to avoid thinking about the real world.

In the vulgar yet appropriate words of your dancestor; _fuck emotions_.

 ** KANKRI ** ** IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. PLEASE CHOOSE ANOTHER CHARACTER.**

** CHARACTER SELECT: **

** KANKRI ** **> CRONUS**

** CONFIRM SELECTION: **

** NO              > YES **

Well you didn’t exactly much of have a choice did you? Either be the violet-blooded greaser or you don’t get to experience the story, simple as that. Your narrator would say that they’re sorry if this ruffles your tail feathers, but they just don’t care.

_I knowv babe, life’s tough; you’ll get ovwer it._

Anyway, your name is Cronus Ampora, you are a sea-dweller with royal violet blood in their veins, and who happens to appreciate the clothing styles and life choices of 50’s Human greasers. You also happen to appreciate the way Kankri Vantas wears skin-tight jeans under his baggy sweater. It’s like he’s deliberately teasing you, something that he will deny to his last breath, but seriously, who wears skinny jeans with a body like that and _doesn’t_ expect people to stare? Apparently, Kankri does, and if you do stare he will give you a lecture about respect and triggers and _blah blah blah_. You do listen to him, or at least you try, but the only way you can avoid getting mad when he rants about your behaviour, is by zoning out and just listening to the sound of his voice, watching the little changes in his expression, the light in his eyes when he’s really passionate about something.

But all of that is beside the point. What _is_ the point, is that said talkative little Troll is making the most adorable face as he looks at himself in the mirror of your garage-come-salon, lips pursed and nose wrinkled a little.

“Decided wvhat you vwant yet chief?” You ask, leaning on the chair behind him.

“I’m not quite sure,” He replies, squinting at his reflection, “I was going to go back to my usual style, but I have become accustomed to this length recently and it never hurts to try something different, especially if you already believe you will be comfortable with it.”

You smile at his long-winded answer, “Vwell I could alvways just giwve it a tidy up, trim the ends, put some layers in,” You gather the curls of hair above his jaw and pull them back slightly, “say, about here?”

God you adore being able to touch his hair, feeling the slight resistance where each one is connected to his skin. You’d love to give those soft tresses a tug and see what he does.

He frowns, “A little longer perhaps.”

You relax your grip, letting the dark waves poof out around his ears, “This better?”

His lips quirk into a smile, “Yes, I believe that will be perfect.”

“Good choice Kan, it’ll suit you,” You let his hair slip through your fingers, “you knowv vwhere the bathroom is, I’ll vwait here.”

He nods and gets up, darting out of the garage and into the main body of your hive. Usually when a Human gets a haircut, the hairdresser would handle washing their hair for them, but because of a Troll’s horns, any sort of head rubbing is pretty much a quadrants-only type of deal. You’re still disappointed every time Kankri goes off to wash his own hair though – you’ve been eyeing up those nubby little horns for _sweeps_.

He returns some time later with dripping waves framing his face, giving you a nervous smile as he shuffles back into the room. God why does he always look worried? Nothing's happened the last like ten times you've done this for him. Then his anxiousness seems to fade a little, and he practically skips back over to the mirror to take another look at his now wet hair. You pat the chair, replacing the towel around his neck with a styling cape – God you love that name, Humans are fucking amazing with their terminology sometimes – after your client sits down.

“If you don’t like hawvin long hair, just come back an’ I’ll chop it all off for ya, alright?”

He looks startled for a moment, then realises that you’re joking and gets his lecture face on, “Cronus you shouldn’t joke about things like that, changing your appearance can be a big decision for some people and it might cause them to lose confidence in you if you were to take it lightly. I thought you were trying to improve everyone’s opinion of you?”

“Sorry doll, I forgot howv to not be an asshole for a second there.” Oops, that came out really sarcastic.

“Language Cronus,” Kankri says, “and I was not suggesting that you were being disagreeable, just that perhaps you should consider the situation before speaking. But as it is I was not personally offended, so I –” he pauses to bite his lip, “I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”

Kankri’s apologies used to be almost a formality, as if he was just saying it to cover his own ass sometimes. But you can tell he’s being more genuine with them lately, just like yours when you say sorry for making an ‘inappropriate comment’ about something. Most of the time anyway.

“It’s fine.” You tell him, meeting his gaze in the mirror, “an’ I’m sorry for my language.”

“It’s fine.” He says, his features relaxing.

He shuffles and pulls the material of the cloak into a comfortable position, twisting it so that the buttons are around the side of his neck. This is one of the only times you get to see him not wearing a turtleneck – he still wears a sweater, but you’ll take small victories – which is a shame, because he has a surprisingly slender neck that really needs more time in the moonlight.

You resist the urge to ‘accidentally’ stroke your fingers across his skin – you’re not sure if you should be proud or disappointed in yourself – and begin trimming his black mop of hair, adding some layers for style as you go. You bet these will give him adorable cowlicks when he sleeps. Kankri waffles on about all manner of things as you work; politics for the new world, cultural differences between the species and how they’ll merge together, a bit of gossip here and there about your friends and dancestors. You nod and smile and make all the right noises, honestly more focussed on making sure you’re not going to stab Kankri with your scissors than listening to him, but you do manage to ask a few questions that make his face light up with enthusiasm.

He continues talking over the hairdryer, then actually shouting when you hold it too close to one of his horns. You apologise, then continue puffing up his hair with the brush. You’d love to ruffle his hair with your own fingers as you dry it, but again that’s too ‘quadranty’ for Kankri’s finicky preferences when it comes to physical interaction. The hairbrush probably does a better job anyway, and boy does he look good when you’re done.

“Vwhat do ya think?” You ask, holding a mirror behind him so that he can see the back.

He runs a hand through his hair, the curls poofing up almost as soon as he smooths them down. Then he smiles at your reflection, “I really rather like it, thank you Cronus.”

“No problem doll, it looks great on you, just gimme a call vwhenewver you need a tidy up.”

He looks down, coughing lightly as a blush colours his cheeks. You reach over his shoulders and take off the gown, letting him stand up and shake off any stray hairs. The floor is a mess, but you can clean that up later – it’s time to decide on your itinerary for the rest of the night. Eridan had come to you last night and asked you to keep Kankri busy whilst he set up a little surprise at the Vantas hive. You never managed to find out exactly what he’s doing, but it was enough to make him turn bright purple as soon as you began to pry further. You don’t really care what he gets up to with his little mutant though, all that matters is that you’ve got a legitimate reason to keep yours around for as long as you can.

“So,” Kankri says as you sit down next to him on the living room couch, “do you have any plans for the rest of the night? I know you said we would be spending the whole time together to give Karkat and Eridan some space, and whilst I appreciate your willingness to help out your dancestor I would like us to do something productive rather than simply milling around in your hive. Not that there’s anything wrong with your hive, but I find that it can become uncomfortable to spend too long in someone else’s presence without having an objective or activity in mind.”

Yeah, Eridan asked you not to tell anyone, but you had to let Kankri in on the secret or he would have never agreed to this. Also, did he just call you boring? You, Cronus Ampora, the most entertaining person on this Goddamn rock and with a pretty face to boot. You are not boring, and if Kankri doesn’t believe that now, he certainly will by the end of this not-a-date-but-totally-a-date night he’s going to spend with you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wanted to have everything in one story without chapters and stuff, but then I got impatient so here you go, first chapter up ahead of schedule!
> 
> Also, fun fact, Kankri's dream is pretty much the same as a dream that I had. Yes folks, I had a dream that I was Kankri Vantas, getting all up close and personal with Cronus Ampora. This is what my life has come to.


	2. Chapter 2

You strum the last note of your song, and Kankri puts his mug down to clap.

“Thank you, thank you,” You stand up and perform a dramatic bow as you put down your guitar, “please, hold your applause.”

He smiles and settles his hands neatly back in his lap, “That was wonderful Cronus, so fluid and I think soulful would be the right word, even if the lyrics were a little questionable in some places but then again that could just be due to personal interpretation, although I did rather like the chorus, it was very ‘catchy’ as people say.”

Hah, oh yeah, he had _no_ idea that the whole thing was about him. You thought all of the mentions of red would give him a hint, but apparently Kankri has the perception of a brick wall. Either that or he’s very good at hiding his embarrassment over compliments all of a sudden, because you slipped a _lot_ of them in there.

“Why do you not play for the others more often?” He asks, “I am sure that they would love to hear your music, especially the Carapacians and the Humans – or, well, former Humans, in the same way that we are former Trolls even though we now all share genes from both species, being ‘Hybrids’ as some of the others have often labelled us.”

You didn’t expect him to go off on a tangent like that, although it does remind you that you’re rocking your Human colouration at the moment, which is probably why he brought it up. You wish Kankri used his human form more often, he has such luxuriously dark hair and caramel skin that perfectly complements your pale complexion.

“To be honest though, I find that term to be a little offensive” He continues, “seeing as we are capable of looking entirely Troll-like, whilst those previously Human are unable to completely rid themselves of some definitively Trollish features.”

You notice him looking at the horns poking out of your ginger hair, then his gaze trails down before abruptly flickering away, a light blush on his grey cheeks. Wow, you didn’t even have to say or do anything, he thought about your still-Trollish junk all by himself.

He clears his throat, “Though I suppose genetics ratios are to blame for that, with only eight humans to us twenty-four Trolls, and the two cherubs of course, who seem to have had no impact on our new species whatsoever, although considering their culture of consuming the soul of one’s hatchmate and only ever experiencing a relationship akin to Kismessitude, I do not believe this to be a bad thing.”

He’s so nervous, you can tell by the way he’s talking, too many breaths and interjections to his sentences. A quick glance at the clock tells you that you’ve only used up three hours of your date time since Kankri got here – including the haircut, the songs, and all of his rambling – which means there’s plenty of time left to actually go out somewhere. Kankri would probably prefer that too, especially considering the way he basically implied that your hive was boring earlier, something that you would have denied at first but are slowly beginning to realise was fairly accurate. You mean, all you really do is watch TV and sit around writing songs or playing your sweet acoustic baby, so there’s not all that much to do with Kankri that doesn’t involve one or both of you being quiet.

“Hey Kan,” You say, grinning when he gives you this quizzical little look, “vwhy don’t vwe go out somevwhere?”

“Oh? What sort of location do you have in mind?”

Ah damn, you were just hoping to get him outside and figure it out whilst you walked.

You open your mouth, but there’s a delay before the words start to come out, “Vwell there’s that can towvn, I’m sure vwe could find a café or somethin’ there, or maybe a vwalk through the park? There alvways the pool too, any of that take your fancy?”

_Please pick the pool, please pick the pool._

He taps a finger on his chin, “The park sounds peaceful, as does the pool, and speaking to some of the can town citizens could be interesting, what would you prefer?”

“Vwell, it’s been a vwhile since I’wve had a svwim.” You say hopefully.

“Oh, you were hoping to swim? Then would it not perhaps be more beneficial to go on your own?”

 _Nononono_ – that’s not what you meant _._

“You vwouldn’t hawve to get in or anythin’ vwe could just hang out y’knowv?” As much as you’d love to see Kankri in the water, you somehow doubt he’d go along with something that involved taking his clothes off.

You also don’t think he can swim, which would be a slight issue. It could result in him holding onto you to avoid sinking though. Hmm. Maybe when you’ve moved things along a bit more you can revisit that idea.

“I see, yes, let’s go then.” He stands up, shuffling behind you as you leave your hive.

Well that was easy.

KANKRI IS NOW AVAILABLE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE CHARACTER?

NO              > YES

_Vwowv doll, think you could hawve pushed that button any faster? I mean I understand that you’re doin it vwith the intentions a makin the story interestin, an that’s a real vwalliant cause you got there, but a guy's gonna get a complex if you keep treatin him like he’s second best._

_But I like you, and I can most definitely see your attraction to my svweatered friend owver here, so I’ll let this one slide. Go ahead, get inside that mut- uh, cherry-blood’s pan, just try not to cry vwhen you start pinin for my sharp vwit an sparklin personality._

WOW. ANYWAY...

CHARACTER SELECT:

> KANKRI             CRONUS

CONFIRM SELECTION:

NO              > YES

You are Kankri Vantas once again, and you thought you were over the whole dream incident, until Cronus suggested going swimming – or more specifically you watching _him_ swim – and all you could say was yes.

Why did you say yes?

“It’s just owver here.” Cronus says, jumping over a fence and heading across part of the park.

You follow him rather clumsily; glad he doesn’t look back until _after_ you’ve finished tripping over your own feet. Honestly, what’s wrong with gates? Giving access past a fence is literally the purpose they were made for. Cronus always has been a fan of breaking the norm though, even when it’s at his detriment. It’s one of the things that makes him so infuriatingly pitiful – or so you’ve been told anyway, you obviously can’t entertain such thoughts. You just… Notice. Like how you merely perceive the way Latula is thrilled to have her sense of smell back even though she claimed it was ‘no biggie’, or how she seemed disappointed that Mituna no longer needed her as much as he had over the past few sweeps. There’s no need to act on whatever hue of emotions such observations may stir within you.

Cronus leads you down a path, following the curve of a rather squat building until you reach the enormous pool at the back. It appears that you will have it all to yourselves, or rather Cronus will have it all to _himself_ , seeing as you have absolutely no intention of going near the water. It’s not the best weather for swimming in your opinion – overcast and with a chill wind that you can feel even through your clothes – but being a sea-dweller, Cronus doesn’t care in the slightest. He directs you to a set of steps by the water, which you can either sit at the top of and remain dry, or ‘dip your toes in’ whilst having to only remove your shoes. You sit down and use untying your laces as a distraction, taking your time with it so that you don’t have to watch Cronus undress across the pool. But when you glance up after kicking off your second shoe, you catch him pulling his shirt over his head and… You’re ashamed to say that you stare.

Your eyes roam across his well-built torso, the grey traded for a pale pink, and brown freckles dotted in place of the violet bioluminescence that usually peppers his body. It truly astonishes you just how vibrant the Humans are, with such variation in all aspects of their appearance. And with the addition of your natural spectrum of blood colours, the possibilities are endless. You can see the violet concealed under Cronus’ skin as he moves, flexing the muscles that are usually hidden with a very slight layer of ‘insulation’ as he calls it. You watch the way he rolls his shoulders, runs a hand through his hair which looks exactly the same afterwards, takes a deep breath to puff out his chest and suck in his stomach even though he has absolutely no reason to. All mere observations of course, not that you have a personal preference for such aesthetics like your subconscious seems to assume. Then he walks to the pool and your eyes shoot down again, watching your hands as they tuck your laces inside your shoes, before placing them out of splashing range just as Cronus dives in.

You don’t put your feet in the water, but you do feel a little more comfortable like this, and cross your legs as you shuffle closer to the edge.

Cronus surfaces, flipping his hair aside with a spray of water, then leans on the poolside next to you, “Hey.”

You can’t help smiling a little, because you can tell he’s doing the flirty thing even after all those times you’ve told him it doesn’t work on you, “Hey.”

“You shore you don’t vwanna take a dip? There’s a shallowv end right there.”

You shake your head, “No, really, I’m fine, I lack the appropriate attire and personally I feel it’s a little too chilly to be gallivanting around in the water, at least for someone with my natural body temperature.”

“Oh, right, don’t vwant you catchin’ a cold nowv do vwe?” He smiles, then seems to remember something, “Oh speakin’ a that, howv’s the sopor been treatin’ you? Hawve the you-knowv-vwhat’s stopped?”

You hesitate before replying, taking a moment to banish the memories of what your dayterrors – Cronus was so considerate to not use the word – have been replaced with. “Yes, it seems to be working as our Alternian counterparts expected.”

He grins, “That’s great, bet you regret bein’ so stubborn in the first place huh?”

 _Stubborn_? You were not _stubborn_. You simply wanted to ensure that your iteration of Trolls would react the same way as those born on Alternia. It was _caution_. All you have to do is frown at him and he immediately changes his tune.

“N-not that there vwas anythin’ vwrong vwith that, uh, actually just forget I said anythin’.” He sinks down into the water.

Great, now you feel guilty. How is it that Cronus can always incite this reaction from you even when he’s the one in the wrong?

“I appreciate your concern,” You tell him, “and yes, although I did have my reasons and I will stand by them, it would have been nice to have an opportunity to remedy the problem earlier.”

He perks up, holding his smile even as he pushes away from the edge, diving back underwater with a sort of reverse somersault. Anyone else might have looked like some sort of aquatic Lusus trying to catch a squawkbeast from the air, but sea-dwellers are so graceful and elegant in their natural element, and in spite of his apparent dissociation with his marine heritage, Cronus is no different. He does another backflip underwater, then swims a few laps. You’re not sure what to do in the meantime, so you lean back on your hands and look up at the stars. On Alternia and Beforus, their light was mostly obscured by that of the moons dominating the sky, only visible during periods when the nights were particularly dark. But here on New Earth you only have to cast your eyes a short distance from the bright, white orb above to spot little pinpricks everywhere, even with the street lights around you. You’d love to alchemise a skyseer and take it out away from civilisation, just sit in a field alone and lose yourself in the patterns of the new universe.

Then your mind adds Cronus into the picture and you close your eyes with a sigh. It’s as if your pan is convinced you can’t do anything without him now, even something as simple as sleep. It is true that you have been spending a lot of time together recently, but the honest truth is that you are the only ones who can comfortably tolerate each other, even enjoy your time together. The others try, particularly your Dancestors and the Humans, lacking experience from the sweeps of forced cohabitation in the dream bubbles, but you know they would rather be spending time with their friends. And that’s okay, you guess. You can’t force them to listen to you, especially since most of the subjects you like to discuss are seen as irrelevant now. There is one other person though, one with whom you can hold a proper and civil debate. As if on command, the former Human is strolling over when you open your eyes.

“Hey Kankri,” He leans on the fence and gives you a nod, turning his attention to the pool as Cronus resurfaces, “’sup Cro.”

“Hello Dirk.” You reply, straightening up.

Cronus floats over to rest on the steps at your feet with a grin, “Heya Bro.”

Dirk Strider was the first person you really talked to outside of the dream bubbles. He’s blunt and analytical, but he cares about his friends. You quickly concluded that you like him, not in any sort of quadrant of course, but just as someone to spend time with. He listens to you, lets you talk things out and offers actual retorts, comments, even challenges to some of your ideas, but instead of arguing with you like others would, he just shares his views. ‘Agree to disagree’ he often says. He’s friends with Cronus as well, giving him advice whilst also calling him out on his less agreeable behaviours. Some might think them Moirails – Meulin seems convinced that it will happen eventually – however Dirk seems to hold quadrants with little regard, much like yourself, simply happy to have close friends. You suppose you could say you admire him, or the way he conducts himself at least.

“So,” Dirk says, “you guys on a date?”

Perhaps that should be _admired_. You open your mouth only to splutter a few syllables that never made it into full words, red heat prickling your face as Cronus does the most unhelpful thing he could and _laughs_.

“Nah, nah, vwe’re just hangin’ out.” He says, still chuckling.

“Aw man,” Dirk shakes his head, “Rox is gonna be crushed, you guys are her OTP.”

“I thought that vwas Rosemary?”

Dirk shrugs, “Eh, guess they’re not fun anymore ‘cause they’re ‘canon’ or some shit.”

“But vweren’t they together vwhen she met ‘em?”

“Hey don’t ask me what goes on in that girl’s brain.”

You honestly have no idea what they’re talking about. You vaguely remember Meulin explaining some of this ‘OTP’ thing to you – a term used for a pairing that you idolise as optimal and mainly applies to fictional characters – and the word ‘canon’ rings a few bells, but even with the context, you feel very out of the loop.

“Oh hey, sweet new ‘do Kankri.” Dirk gestures to your hair with a nod of his head.

Oh thank God, something you can talk about.

“Why thank you,” You impulsively reach up to touch your hair – gosh you’d forgotten how soft it always is after Cronus cuts it, “Cronus styled it for me this evening, I was going to have it cut much shorter but I’ve rather enjoyed having longer hair lately.”

“Yeah dude, looks good, maybe I’ll even let you at mine sometime Cro.” Dirk smooths over the hair between his horns, the white-gold locks glossy with product, just like Cronus’.

Cronus perks up, “Really?”

“’Course man,” Dirk reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, “I gotta get back to the others, but you guys should join us when you’re done here, Jane is makin’ cakes and let me tell ya she is a fuckin’ baking Goddess with all these new Troll ingredients, like I don’t even know what some of the shit she uses is but it tastes so good I just can’t find it in me to care.”

“Sounds good, catch ya’ later.”

“Yes, thank you for the offer,” You say, “hope to see you again soon Dirk.”

You all wave to each other, then Cronus hauls himself out of the pool, grabbing the towel draped over a nearby chair. You stretch and put your shoes back on, giving Cronus ample time to get dressed, which he thankfully decides to do in a reasonable amount of time. You’re not opposed to nudity as such, but some people really have no sense of modesty.

“To the lair of the cake Goddess then?” Cronus asks, holding up a compact mirror to fix his hair.

You bite back a smirk, “I’m sorry, was that question directed at me or your reflection?”

Cronus freezes, looking almost worried until you let your smile show through, “Right, hah,” he coughs and puts the mirror away, “sorry Kan, let’s go.”

You follow him to the exit, still smiling. You don’t know what’s gotten into you today, but you’re starting to think that it might not be a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long >_>
> 
> But hey, shirtless Cro, so we're cool yeah?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! :3 Kudos and feedback are always appreciated.


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